With the number of spectators at fall scholastic sporting events being capped at whatever limit Gov. Phil Murphy sets for outdoor gatherings at the time of competition, some high schools across New Jersey are considering alternative methods to deliver game action to fans.  

The NJSIAA announced Friday the limit on outdoor gatherings – which is currently 500 people – for attendance at high school athletic competition will not include on-field game participants such as players, coaches, cheerleaders, officials, trainers, mascots, staff, media and other personnel. 

Local school districts will be allowed to determine whether marching band members will count toward the overall attendance figure, an NJSIAA spokesperson said.

Depending on statewide health data and other factors, the number of spectators permitted to attend may increase or decrease as the season progress. Fall sports are scheduled to run from Sept. 28 through late November. 

The decision to allow spectators at sporting events during the coronavirus pandemic ultimately rests with local school districts.

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Spectators will be required to wear masks, unless doing so would inhibit an individual’s health, and maintain social distance. Host sites reserve the right to eject spectators who do not adhere to those guidelines. Famly units are expected to be permitted to sit together. 

While the attendance cap may not adversely impact the majority of tennis, soccer, field hockey and cross country events across the state, it is expected to create logistical problems for athletics administrators at many high school football games.

Host sites permitting fans on campus will have to determine a system of ticket allotment and distribution, one that could likely first defer to parents/legal guardians and siblings of student-athletes and may require attendance to be split evenly between competing schools. 

The NJSIAA recently entered into a partnership with HomeTown Ticketing, which Colleen Maguire, the statewide athletic association’s chief operating officer, said will be a “tremendous asset” for member schools. 

Livestream alternative

With an attendance cap in place, some school districts will look for ways to deliver live or on-demand game action to followers of their high school sports programs.

An increasing number of NJSIAA member schools have contractual agreements with the National Federation of State High School Association’s Network School Broadcast Program, a paid service that provides schools with the software and tools to deliver professional-grade broadcasts of events online.

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Almost all football programs statewide record game action on HUDL, which is now offering livestream capability.

Some schools deliver their own livestream of events, while multiple media outlets provide live audio or video broadcasts of games. Reporters from the sidelines often post live updates and video clips from in-game action in near real-time on social media.

With social distancing required inside the press box and on the sidelines, where media will not be allowed beyond the 10-yard line on either end of a football field, according to Big Central Football Conference President Scott Miller, space and sight lines for reporters and photographers covering events will be limited.

The NJSIAA said it will not be issuing press credentials for the fall season, leaving the decision to allow reporters on campus up to local school districts. 

‘Inherent risks’

During the pandemic, not all school districts may want residents from their own school community or those from visiting teams on campus.

David Aderhold, superintendent of the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, one of nearly a dozen districts statewide who have already canceled fall sports, cited coronavirus-related concerns with spectators among reasons for doing away with the season.

“There is an inherent risk in bringing athletes, fans and coaches from other districts, or the risk that another district may experience as we bring our students, coaches, and fans to their school community,” Aderhold said.

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“Unfortunately, these risks could completely invalidate all our efforts to keep our school community safe and our schools open.”

Murphy’s guidelines for attendance at high school sporting events mirror those his administration established this summer for high school graduations, youth sports and the New Jersey Last Dance World Series, a statewide baseball tournament for high school-aged players and recently graduated high school seniors, with the lone exception being that those events included the number of on-field participants. 

Frustrated fans

Murphy attended several Last Dance games and threw out a ceremonial first pitch at the tournament championship, which was played at Arm & Hammer Ballpark, a 6,150-seat venue that is home to the Trenton Thunder, the New York Yankees’ Double A affiliate.

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St. Joseph High School of Metuchen Athletics Director Mike Murray Jr., who organized the Last Dance, said spectators who couldn’t secure tickets to some single-elimination games, all of which were played at five of the state’s spacious independent and minor league stadiums, were frustrated. 

While seating capacity has or will be limited nationwide in most states where high school football is being played, Pennsylvania’s Department of Education has recommended that no spectators be permitted at Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association events this fall.

High school football games have already kicked off in a dozen states across the country, and six more statewide athletic associations are slated to begin their gridiron seasons this weekend.

While high school football players assumedly would prefer games be contested without attendance restrictions, which may curtail usually spirited student sections, they are likely happy to be able to take the field at all, with or without fans.

Sixteen states and the District of Columbia will not play football this fall, according to the NFHS, which is tracking the status of return-to-play across the country.

The fall sports season in New Jersey is scheduled to commence Sept. 28 for girls tennis, Oct. 2 for football and Oct. 1 for all other sports. 

Email: gtufaro@gannett.com

Greg Tufaro is a national award-winning journalist who has covered scholastic and college sports at MyCentralJersey.com for 30 years. For unlimited access to MyCentralJersey.com, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.